rose garden
by colorful swirls
Summary: Leaving would mean erasing the magic, the enchanted feeling that you get while sitting in this rose garden, on a bench with Luna Lovegood. - ChoLuna.


**disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**prompts: **Counting backwards, breathless, clouds.

**written for: **If You Dare, Pairing Diversity Bootcamp, Quidditch League Competition - Round 7 (Appleby Arrows, Chaser 1).

* * *

when she was just a girl

she expected the world

**but it flew away from her reach**

and the bullets catch in her teeth - _paradise_

* * *

i. **butterfly**

...

Five years, and still, you can smell the lingering scent of his cologne on that dress. Five years, and still, you're nothing but a pretty face.

You're twenty-one years old. There can be no more of this - _pettiness_.

No more.

...

Counting backwards from three to one, you slowly unwrap the dress. It's beautiful; ivory, covered with lace that brings out the best in your dark eyes. It's just as easy going on as it was five years ago, and that frightens you a bit.

This entire situation - being as to a ball, agreeing to accompany a handsome man to a ball - feels strange. Too familiar, actually.

Perhaps you shouldn't go. Maybe it'd be better to abandon Terry, the same way he abandoned you, all that time ago.

That would be cruel, though. At least Cedric didn't _intend_ to break your heart.

...

Terry picks you up at midnight, and you don't fight. You're polite and calm and collected and normal. It's strange, actually, feeling normal. You haven't been normal since a boy was struck down in a Tournament, and you probably won't ever be truly normal again - especially not now, when you're a survivor of a war that's left so many bloodstains.

Like the one on your dress. Your hand had gotten caught in a door on the way inside. Not a huge deal; you'd wiped away the blood and Terry had kissed your fingertip, and it was okay.

Except that now, sitting in the moonlight, the spot of crimson on your otherwise ivory-lace frame is shining, sticking out.

It's probably what makes her think to come sit by you, in hindsight.

...

ii. **moon**

Neville's either a prat or highly sensitive to the effects of Lumbergerts, Luna decides, and then she realizes that she's not actually having much fun, sitting at their table and watching. This prompts a muttered "Excuse me," and a breakaway, and then she's left Neville and his friends behind.

She heads outdoors, pondering the possibility that Vaibe rates are high in the dewy night air, and thinking maybe that's the issue.

It's not, however, as Luna finds nothing in the air but clouds.. which is a good thing, so to speak. Then, she sees the girl on the bench.

Cho Chang. Ravenclaw. Fellow D.A. member. It seems like a fair chance, in Luna's eyes. Hopefully, it'll work, and Cho won't shove her away, like so many had done before.

It works. She sits down beside Cho, moonlight glinting off of her eyes and hair, her entire body smelling faintly of daffodils.

"Hello," Luna says cheerfully.

Cho answers in kind; and then a silence settles, with only the spurts of sound from the house - Padma's -interrupting it.

Until finally, Luna can't take it any longer. "I like your dress," she comments.

And that's how Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang strike up a conversation, beginning with the Yule Ball and ending with the cycles of the moon.

...

iii. **mend**

You don't know exactly how it happened - how she managed to break down all of your walls in one single blow, something no one else has ever done. She's bright, Luna is, a breath of fresh air. You can breath again, after so much.

You're fairly sure that this isn't love; probably an infatuation, most definitely a fascination, but right now, it feels like you love her. It feels like she loves you - the way her eyes shine, the way her palms are cool against yours, the way she smiles at you with the entire universe in her teeth.

And suddenly, you can't bear the thought of leaving. Leaving would mean erasing the magic, the enchanted feeling that you get while sitting in this rose garden, on a bench with Luna Lovegood.

She's actually quite beautiful. You've never noticed before - surely no one had ever noticed before - but somehow, her grey eyes match her sunny hair, and her abstract colors match her delicate features.

"Cho," she whispers in your ear, breaking you out of your thoughts. "There's a nest of Rio's above your head."

"Oh?" Your voice comes out breathless, you know, but it's all you can manage with Luna's lips in such close proximity to your skin.

"Yes." Luna nods, and then a flicker of a smile crosses her face. "They hate public displays of affection." Here, Luna grins.

You're working this out in your head: public displays of affection? Well, they aren't exactly in public, but you suppose a hug would count -

And then Luna is kissing you, and you taste the clouds on her lips.

...

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**a/n:** please don't follow/favorite without reviewing


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